Black Tank won't drain issue

[jhayesas]

The Auto Drain light and control arm are working (light on/off, arm in/out). The Flojet waste pump is doing it's job. I will need to replace because it leaks when dumping the gray tank.


It seems to me it has to be the Auto Drain because the gray tank discharges/drains with no issues. Can the device arm look like it's opening and closing and that actually not be the case and the door remain closed?


Any suggestions would be great.

[jmahone]

Which van and year is this?

[Rig Rat]

You can manually open it.

[jhayesas]

Originally Posted by jmahone

Which van and year is this?

2020 Airstream Interstate Nineteen

[jhayesas]

Originally Posted by Rig Rat

You can manually open it.Attachment 444830

The rack gear opens. You can hear the hose noise difference between when it's open and closed. Much loader noise when the Auto Drain is open.

[Boxster1971]

Sounds like your black tank drain is blocked by whatever you are putting into the toilet.

How full is the black tank?

Try back flushing the black tank

Good luck.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

When was the last time you put water into the black tank flush? How many times did you do it? A couple of flushes (fill with the flush input, dump ... repeat) likely will help things out quite a bit.

Bob

[jhayesas]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

When was the last time you put water into the black tank flush? How many times did you do it? A couple of flushes (fill with the flush input, dump ... repeat) likely will help things out quite a bit.

Bob

I've never used the black tank flush in the almost 5 years I've owned my rig until today and now the issue is resolved.

[3OnOurWay]

Well timely message from my adventures this weekend. I had problems with the black valve closing, and had not used flush previously so ended up with a blockage on the gate while trying to electronically close the valve. Despite adding water into the toilet, using the black flush hook up, solved the problem immediately by putting 30% more water in the tank to clean everything out.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by jhayesas

I've never used the black tank flush in the almost 5 years I've owned my rig until today and now the issue is resolved.

Hi

The flush *should* have been covered in the walk through at delivery. It's a common thing to "miss" (either they didn't mention it or it simply didn't register ...).

Any time you are putting the RV away for more than a month or two, doing a flush is a pretty good idea. If you are out and about, flushing every third "dump stop" seems to work pretty well.

Bob

[StogieMan]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Any time you are putting the RV away for more than a month or two, doing a flush is a pretty good idea. If you are out and about, flushing every third "dump stop" seems to work pretty well.

Bob

As always, Bob - spot on!

I’ve learned a long time ago that the black tank flush is your friend and use it every single time that we dump. If I don’t get a chance to do it on the road or if water/connection is not available, I do it at home as soon as I can.

I’ve come to the point that I don’t even use anymore additives to break down solids/smells as there is no need to do it when using the black tank flush religiously during every single dump. It only adds a few minutes to the process. It’s there for a reason and strongly recommend using it as I’ve stated many times in other posts. I have a quick disconnect with two dedicated hoses. One for when we’re at home and the other for the road. We also have a Y setup for the campgrounds.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Keep in mind, this "do the flush hose" thing is *very much* a "do as I say and not as I do" item. Earlier this year, we had quite a stink in the van. Check this, check that. What could it be? It took an amazingly long time to figure out that the flush had gotten missed ....

Bob